Stolen Hero
by Nerissia
Summary: As the orphaned jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi, Kazama Naruto is a loyal ninja of Iwa, desperate to prove himself and become Tsuchikage. But when he encounters the village of Konoha, he finds his entire world being turned upside down.
1. Chapter 1

**Stolen Hero**

**Don't own Naruto. Never have, and probably never will.**

The Yondaime's hands shook as he dipped the paintbrush into the ink, trying to block out the screams of the dying that rang from outside of his office. The air was heated to a very uncomfortable degree, and the stench of blood and smoke hung around his nostrils, refusing to go away even as he gagged on it. Outside his window, an eerie red glow shone, the promise of the Kyuubi that was fast approaching his village. Already, hundreds of ninja had been lost, and the casualties were only growing higher the closer the beast came to Konoha.

Then the baby lying in front of him stirred, and Namikaze Minato forgot everything else.

It had taken him a long time to work up the courage to propose to Kushina; his bravery on the battlefield all but vanished whenever he talked to girls, and his fear of her rejection had him weak at the knees - kami help him if any of his enemies ever discovered his crippling weakness. However, to his delight, she had accepted, and the news that their Hokage was due to be married (and hopefully produce a large brood of powerful heirs) was accepted with great joy by the rest of Konoha, though there were a few that muttered darkly about their beloved Yondaime being seduced by a foreigner who was only interested in his wealth and power.

But Minato didn't care about any of that, and his happiness was only doubled when Kushina accepted his proposal. Their marriage happened quickly, as they were keen to hide the rapidly growing bump Kushina now carried behind a veil of respectability, though from the ecstatic reactions from the population of Konoha when they heard that he had a heir on the way, he doubted they'd care if he had simply knocked up a few of the women that Jiraiya-sensei had tried to entice him towards on his stag night.

But now was not the time to think of such things. Leaning forward, Minato began to slowly and carefully trace out the seal he had designed so painstakingly while his ninja died in the slim hope that they could delay the beast to give him enough time.

Though most fuinjutsu masters needed to work in peace and quiet to achieve the best results, the stressed Hokage's expertise was far above that of most fuinjutsu masters. Within minutes, it was done; the thick whorls and lines of drying ink forming the Shiki Fūjin, the seal that would hold back a demon.

Naruto had stopped crying now, his wide blue eyes blinking up at the Yondaime, making him look strangely solemn in the flickering candlelight. Minato exhaled, gently picking him up and turning to the door. "Forgive me…my son."

* * *

It was finally over.

In the late evening of October 10th, the greatest Hokage Konoha had ever known had fallen against the most fearsome of the bijuu, but snatching a victory as he died. For by summoning the shinigami, Minato had managed to create a jinchuuriki, sealing the Kyuubi into his newborn son.

There had been much confusion over who should succeed the Yondaime; he had been young, healthy and strong, and the people of Konoha had never anticipated his reign ending in such a sudden, brutal manner. A few clan heads had tried to put themselves forward for the spot, but it had eventually been decided that the Sandaime, who had led them well before stepping down, should resume his former role as Hokage.

Sarutobi was not happy to hear of the choice - he was old, and he had wanted to die peacefully in retirement - but even as a former ninja, he was willing to make any sacrifice necessary for his village.

Even at times like this, when he found himself cleaning up messes left by Minato that should never have been made in the first place.

"Hokage-sama, that creature must be put to death! It is a danger! An abomination!"

When the Sandaime had called the council of Konoha together, it had been to discuss plans for rebuilding the village and to explain Minato's final wish about Naruto. He had pondered whether it was wise to reveal Naruto's situation, but too many ninjas had seen Minato riding towards the Kyuubi with an infant in his arms. Keeping what had happened quiet would be next to impossible.

However, though he had painstakingly explained just what Minato had done (sealing the Kyuubi into the infant without taking over its body) the council apparently refused to listen to reason.

Half of them were calling for his death, so that the Kyuubi would never have a chance to rise again, while the rest seemed to be split up into different factions.

Most were indifferent, not calling for his death, but offering nothing in favour of keeping him alive. Danzo had suggested putting him in a 'specialized training program' (if he really thought that Sarutobi was that gullible, then the rumours of the war-hawk's senility were taking on a very realistic tint) while only a small number, consisting of Aburame Shibi, whose kikai bugs could easily tell the difference between a bijuu and a jinchuuriki, Kurama Murakumo, who could sense that Sarutobi wasn't going to be moved on this issue and had no desire to provoke his wrath, and Inuzuka Tsume, who whilst not favouring Naruto himself, was loyal to the Yondaime and thus wouldn't dream of ignoring the man's final wishes were arguing for him.

"Surely, Sandaime-sama, you can see that it's too dangerous to be left alive! It should be disposed of, before the beast takes control again!"

Sarutobi glared at the speaker. "Fugaku, I am shocked at what you are suggesting. Killing an innocent child is not only reprehensible, but it would be a mockery of Minato's final wish. Or did you think he was joking when he asked for his son to be declared a hero?"

The room suddenly went quiet, every eye fixed to the small bassinet that was sitting next to Sarutobi. The infant inside was fast asleep, courtesy of a genjutsu that Murakumo had been kind enough to cast on him so that he could sleep peacefully while his fate was decided by the council. However, the spiky blonde hair, facial features and the round blue eyes that had looked up in bewilderment before the genjutsu had closed them were almost a perfect mix of Kushina and Minato's genetics. There could be no doubt of his parentage.

Unless, of course, you were a stubborn council member.

"S-son?" Fugaku spluttered out, his dark eyes flickering nervously between the baby and Sarutobi, who stared back at him coolly. "That's impossible!"

"Is it?" Sarutobi asked, gently lifting Naruto out of the bassinet. He leaned forward, letting everyone get a good view of the child's face. A low murmuring filled the chamber, along with a few panicked whispers.

Fugaku went pale, but the hatred in his eyes did not fade. "I find it hard to believe that the Yondaime-"

"Would make every sacrifice for his village? Would offer up his own child as a jinchuuriki? Would seal the most powerful of the bijuu away into his only son so that Konoha would be saved?"

Fugaku planted his knuckles on the table, staring coolly at the Sandaime. "No, Hokage-sama. None of us doubt the Yondaime's loyalty to his village. And perhaps it is true, that the body biologically is his son. But that is all the more reason to not waste his sacrifice by allowing the beast to live!"

"You fool," Hyuuga Hiashi murmured, stirred into action by his rival's words. It did not matter that Hiashi did not care for the child, did not matter that, had Fugaku said nothing, the clan head would have been content to remain silent and allow Naruto to be carted off for execution; once the Uchihas had declared themselves to be against the jinchuuriki, then the Hyuugas were directed to protect him. "The Kyuubi is bound to his soul, but unable to access his mind. That is the purpose of a jinchuuriki - to contain the power of a demon, but restrain it with the mind of a human. He is no more demon than a jug is the water it contains."

Fugaku snorted. "The Kyuubi has never been contained, and it is the most powerful of the demons, far above even Kumo's Hachibi! Every jinchuuriki that we know of have problems with controlling their individual bijuu - and those are with seals that were worked on for months, years even! The seal used to contain the Kyuubi in...in _that,_" - he gestured at Naruto with his face turned away, as if it disgusted him to even look upon the baby - "_**boy**_ was designed by the Yondaime in less than three days, and with the stress of a demon approaching our village bearing upon him! How could there _not _be mistakes?"

The other council members shifted uneasily, no doubt thinking of the elaborate seal on the child's navel that had already been fading when the Sandaime brought him in. It had looked incredibly complicated, far beyond their comprehension - and if they could not even begin to understand it, how could they spot any mistakes within it?

"Not only that," Fugaku continued, sensing a slowly approaching victory and determined to seize it, "but the Kyuubi is amongst the most cunning of the bijuu. It can warp minds, tempt the powerful, indulge the weak, prey on fears, draw out darker desires. Even if the boy is truly a boy and not the creature itself, he would eventually come into contact with the creature. And in that case, how long would it take for it to persuade the child to release it?"

Hiashi's eyes narrowed. "You do seem to know a lot about the Kyuubi, Uchiha-san. Tell me, does this relate to the rumours about the Uchiha's...supposed link to the creature?"

A crash resounded through the chamber as Fugaku leapt to his feet, sending his chair falling to the floor. "You dare-"

"THAT IS ENOUGH!"

Both clan heads froze, turning to see the Sandaime on his feet as well. "We came here not to fling about old myths," - he shot a stern look at Hiashi - "nor are we here to discuss the lynching of a _child. _Naruto's mother is still alive, and she would no doubt be furious to find that anyone had attempted to kill her son."

This announcement caused a ripple of surprise through the room. Inoichi raised his head, staring at his aged leader. "Kushina? But...reports indicated that she-"

"Suffered complications during childbirth that proved fatal," the Sandaime recited. "A misreport by an inexperienced medic-nin. Kushina managed to pull through in the end, but the stress of the Kyuubi's chakra combined with the birth caused great damage to her internal chakra network."

There were looks of sympathy from the female members of the council. It was a well-known fact that, during pregnancy, the foetus would siphon off a small portion of the mother's chakra for itself. The amount was so minimal that most barely noticed it, and there was usually little trouble. But occasionally things could go wrong with the transfer even at the best of times - and giving birth while the Kyuubi was attacking was hardly the best of times!

"Where is Kushina now?" Shikaku asked, leaning back in his chair as the other members of the council shifted in their seats, looking worried. It was one thing to call for the death of the body of an orphaned child - but the son of the Yondaime Hokage, their beloved savior, was another matter. And while it was possible for those who wanted to deny Naruto's appearance to claim that his resemblance to Minato was either a coincidence or a cruel trick by the Kyuubi to mock his defeater, Kushina would be able to confirm Naruto's identity as her son - and as the wife of the Yondaime, there could be little doubt of who his father was.

"Currently unconscious. She had to go through several operations to repair the damage, but the medic-nins inform me that she'll be out in a week or so."

Fugaku folded his arms. "And who, pray, will care for the child in the meantime?"

Sarutobi frowned. "He will be kept under ANBU guard until Kushina is ready to care for him. I trust there are no objections?"

The council members shook their heads, though Sarutobi wasn't fooled by their show of obedience. He had no doubt that there were plots whirring through quite a few minds, that hatred for Naruto was still bubbling beneath their calm façades - but he trusted in his village. Once the embers of their rage had been given a chance to cool, their minds would clear and they would be able to recognize Naruto for what he was - a hero.

* * *

Days passed. Though still in shock, and mourning their losses, Konoha turned its attention to recovery. The countless bodies were retrieved and those which were identifiable were returned to their kin while those which were ruined beyond recognition were buried in a field with one large marker acknowledging them as victims of the Kyuubi. The damaged buildings were patched up. The rubble was cleared away. The wounded were tended to. It would be a long struggle for Konoha to get back to where they had once been, especially without the Yondaime as their leader, but though it was a lot of work, they were beginning to take the first steps.

The work was hard, but it also gave people a chance to think, to reflect as they surveyed their village, battered but not broken. The Kyuubi had reached the walls of the village, but it hadn't actually got inside. If it had, the casulities would have been far, far higher. And only the Yondaime had been able to stop it.

But, according to the Sandaime, the Yondaime's victory would not be possible without the aid of a child - and not just any child, but his son and heir, the Yondaime's final legacy. If Naruto hadn't been there, then Minato would have been helpless to stop the Kyuubi's rampage, and Konoha would have been completely wiped off the map. And that...would make him as much as a hero as his father.

The population of Konoha was split. Great ninja were revered, and the same respect was often shown to their families, especially if they started producing more than one. The people had been overjoyed at the announcement of the Yondaime's approaching fatherhood, and they had been eagerly anticipating the birth. Surely, more than a few argued, the Kyuubi didn't change any of that. Naruto was still the Yondaime's son, and he had helped stopped the Kyuubi. He deserved to be honoured as his father had been.

At the same time, there were those who were terrified of the Kyuubi - even shinobi who knew that Naruto wasn't the beast, didn't want anything involving the Kyuubi near them at all. And there still remained a large number of those, mostly civilians, who refused to believe that the Kyuubi could be safely locked away in an infant, and were refusing to acknowledge him as a human being, let alone the Yondaime's heir.

Things were getting close to a boiling point, and the Sandaime was waiting desperately for Kushina to wake up. The elderly kage thought that it would be far better when Naruto had his mother to care for him and also publicly confirm his identity. Naruto was going to have a hard enough life as it was - but with his mother supporting him, life should be better.

Really, Konoha - especially the Uchiha clan - should be thinking more about the future. Sarutobi had never condoned the idea of hunting down bijuu to seal into children, no matter how appealing the prospect of such power was during war-time. It had just never seemed to be worth it - the sacrifice of both a life and a child for the dangerous power of a bijuu that could easily turn on them. However, now that they actually had one, he could become a great shinobi to aid Konoha - though Sarutobi had no intention of treating him as a mindless weapon as Danzo wanted.

Konoha was weakened, but it would get stronger again. And, if trained properly, Uzumaki Naruto could be a powerful asset.

A pity that the Sandaime never considered that there were others who felt the same way.

* * *

The elderly man, half-hidden behind the large desk he sat at, laid down the report he had been reading. The shinobi standing in front of him snapped to attention, ready to answer any questions or carry out any orders his kage asked of him.

"You are sure that this is correct?"

The shinobi bowed, his hiate-ate glinting in the light. "Positive, Tsuchikage-sama. Everyone in the village knows; though there is a law against speaking of it openly, they find ways to share the news."

A long eyebrow was raised. "Sarutobi was foolish enough to tell the civilians? And they blab about it as if it was nothing?"

The shinobi shrugged, his head still lowered respectfully. "They hate and fear the demon, Tsuchikage-sama, and they do not have the discipline or sense to not speak of village secrets. Even the ninja are similiar. And they all acknowledge the rumours of his parentage, though some deny that they are true, whilst others do not seem to be sure."

Onoki leaned back in his chair, his eyes drifting to the window. Though it was night, the large, curved buildings of his village were easily visible. The ninja of Iwagakure were proud of their tall structures, which were said to be among the biggest in the five nations. Looking at them calmed the kage whenever he was in a bad mood or pondering a bad situation, as he was doing now.

At the height of its power, Iwagakure had been something to behold. Their population was strong, their economy stable, their technology reasonable. They commanded five more smaller villages, who operated separately but were beholden to the Tsuchikage. Their shinobi forces, if not as inclined as to churn out legends every generation like Konoha, were loyal and reasonably skilled, and made up almost three quarters of their population. They had surpassed most of the other main villages, and there was even talk of them shoving Konoha off their pedestal as 'Most Powerful Village.'

But then the war had come. Iwa had entered it with confidence, sure that they would win. They had more ninja than Konoha, they had more allies than Konoha, the Sandaime Hokage was, while still a formidable foe, growing old and stuck commanding his troops from afar, Konoha's White Fang had already fallen by his own hand, and the Sannin, whilst strong and deadly ninja, were only three shinobi who could not be everywhere at once.

But then a new legend had arised, bringing hope to Konoha and horror to Iwa. Namikaze Minato, the Yellow Flash, who, with his teleportion jutsu, managed to wipe out every troop he went up against, who inscribed a seal that constantly teleported poison into Iwa's water supply, who left Iwa starving when he blew up their supply bridge, who had practically won the war for Konoha and made a mockery of Iwa whilst doing so.

Iwagakure had been furious, and the Tsuchikage had spent years waiting for an opportunity for revenge. Oh, none of his ninjas would survive one on one against the Namikaze, and the man was too smart to fall for an ambush - but there had to be some opportunity, some chink in his armour that Iwa could use as revenge.

And then, five years after the war had ended, the Tsuchikage received a report that simultaneously infuriated and delighted him - the Yondaime had fallen, not by the hand of an assassin, but against the Kyuubi when it attacked Konoha. And not only did he die without shame (for who could stand against the mightiest of the bijuu and hope to live?) but he did so by felling the beast, saving Konoha and leaving a legend that would be revered for decades to come.

Only he hadn't killed the beast. If he had, then Onoki would have found that too bitter a pill to swallow, for how could anyone surpass such a legacy? The genius who trained under Jiraiya and then taught the copy ninja, who reduced Iwa's troops to a shadow of their former glory, who became the youngest Hokage in history as well as the most talented fuinjutsu master in the five elemental nations, only to fall in battle whilst slaying the Kyuubi, achieving the goal that no one could hope to try before departing life before age could wither his glory...People in the past had been deified after death for less.

But the Yondaime had been just as mortal as the rest of them, with the same inability to kill the chakra monsters. So he had merely created a jinchuuriki instead, as had dozens before him. Iwa had created a total of five jinchuuriki, four of whom had caged the Yonbi, which had been captured by Iwa decades previously. The current holder was Roshi, who was only five years younger than the elderly kage, though his bijuu helped to keep pace with opponents far younger than him. The other jinchuuriki held the Gobi...which was a less than stellar success, and one that Onoki preferred not to think of.

However, even with those two, the thought of Konoha having the Kyuubi in a jinchuuriki made the Tsuchikage deeply uncomfortable. The Kyuubi was the greatest of the nine, and the strength gap between it and Kumo's Hachibi was as wide as the difference between the Tsuchikage and an ordinary chunin. Only two ninja had been able to control it in recorded history - Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara - and even then, they had only been able to generally direct the beast, and the strain it had put on them was said to have cost them dearly. But if the Kyuubi jinchuuriki was able to control the beast, or at least gain some measure of its power as Roshi and Han had done with their own bijuu...

It really didn't bear thinking about. A child such as that could become an incredible weapon, and Onoki could see why Namikaze had decided the trade was worth it. The exchange of his life for the safety of his village and someone who might one day surpass his genius with the raw power of the Kyuubi...that would make sense for any ninja, if they were brave and loyal enough to make such a sacrifice.

But that didn't make it any less of a blow for Iwagakure. And so, the Tsuchikage ordered his spies to investigate the child, and determine, if they could, the exact nature of the seal and just how much power the boy would have access to. Though the brat was only a few months old, it was said that the jinchuuriki of Suna already had sand dancing at his whims. Having actually glimpsed the Kyuubi from a distance once, Onoki certainly didn't like the thought of a baby that could nonchalantly fling around the beast's chakra.

It was a week before his spies reported back to him. They had been unable to discern the nature of the seal that bound the Kyuubi, partially because of their low rank (after the war, both sides had dug deeply into their forces to find any planted agents, and only the most unremarkable had escaped) but mostly because it seemed no one else in Konoha did either. The Yondaime had designed the seal in three days, but it was incredibly complicated, and apparently no one could unpick it. That was annoyingly vague, but the spies had also brought back another bit of news, one that was just as interesting and potentially damning for Iwa.

Apparently, the jinchuuriki was the Yondaime's infant son.

The news was shocking to the Tsuchikage. His spies had reported that the Yondaime was in a relationship - unfortunately the kunoichi in question, a member of the Uzumaki clan, was also a highly capable jounin, who tended to be assigned missions either with strong team-mates or away from the border of Tsuchi no Kuni - the Yondaime was not a fool, he knew his love would be in danger from his enemies as well. The spies had also told him that the woman was said to be pregnant, and the Tsuchikage had known that the brat would be a target from every village the moment he was born, Iwa included.

But never in Onoki's wildest dreams would he have imagined that the Yondaime would sacrifice his legacy like that. Kumogakure had long since had a practice of creating jinchuuriki out of their kage's relations, as had Suna, but even then, they were nothing more than tools to the village, to be trained and discarded as their villages saw fit. That the Yondaime, who was famous for seeking peace despite his strength and disliking the way shinobi were used as tools for their villages, would turn his own son into one seemed quite out of character.

But then again, perhaps the Tsuchikage was looking at it the wrong way. If the Yondaime was truly such an idealist, then he probably would have seen it as his duty to condemn his son to the existence of a jinchuuriki, unable to ask any other parent to give up their child, even though it would have been their duty as members of his village to provide him with one - that was, after all, what Onoki had demanded for the Gobi, lacking any family of his own.

Bah. Why Namikaze had chosen his son didn't matter. What did was that Iwa now had a very large problem on their hands.

Though there were no major wars currently being fought, peace could never truly exist in a world of shinobi. The villages were forever locked in a cycle of uneasy ceasefire, followed by war, followed by ceasefire. Eventually, another huge war would begin again, and Iwa would be against Konoha again - there was too much bitterness on both sides for the villages to ever be allies. Only this time, Konoha wouldn't have the Yellow Flash on their sides.

They'd have something nine times better.

This, obviously, could not be allowed to happen. Iwa would be slaughtered if the child was allowed to grow up into their enemy; even Han and Roshi would not be able to beat the combo of the Kyuubi with the Yondaime's power. Even if the boy had only a scrap of the Yondaime's genius he would be a threat to Iwa. The obvious solution was to remove that threat.

But how?

Killing the child would, perhaps, be the easiest option. Right now, Konoha was weak, still trying to pull itself together after the Kyuubi attack, and the leakage of information to the civilians meant that it had been easy for the Iwa spies to find out where the baby was being kept. It would be easy to slip in an assassin, who could quietly murder the child and disappear before anyone knew what had happened. The Yondaime's line would be ended, along with the jinchuuriki's potential.

Despite himself, a frown tugged at the Tsuchikage's lips. That seemed...rather a waste.

His eyes flickered over to the wall, where a lighter patch showed where a kunai had been rammed into the wall. It had nearly given the elderly kage a heart attack when he discovered one of the Yellow Flash's special kunai had been placed in his office, ready to take the man there whenever he wished. In fact, Iwa possessed dozens of those kunai...yet they were unable to use them. After years of studying them, the frustrated researchers had decided that either there was a second part of the process that they were not aware of, or the Yondaime had managed to bind it to himself so that only he and those of his blood could use it.

If the latter was true, then the child could be able to master the jutsu, and be a terror to his enemies just as the Flash was. And if he couldn't...well, the Yondaime had been acknowledged as an amazing ninja even without his teleportion jutsu. The Kyuubi could more than make up for the lack of it.

Even if they did get rid of the child, they would still struggle against Konoha. After all, though war was always a threat, unless something dire happened to change the balance, the Tsuchikage doubted that a large one would be arriving for years, plenty of time for other legends to arise from Konoha. Though he had the potential to be the greatest, Namikaze's heir was just one of many children that would grow up to be warriors for Konoha. Iwa might rid Konoha of that edge, but they still needed one of their own.

And suddenly, inspiration struck.

The Tsuchikage leaned forward, his fingers curled, as if to twist into hand-seals at any given moment. "This is what you are to do..."

* * *

Despite his status as Hokage, Minato had never actually moved into the mansion set aside for the village leader, despite Sarutobi moving out before he was even put in office. He argued that neither he or Kushina needed a house so large, and anyway, thanks to the numerous seals he had added, his house was probably even safer than the Hokage's mansion. Though not happy about it, the people of Konoha had agreed, and so Minato and Kushina had lived instead in a comfortable home near the Hokage tower, with plenty of security features as well as everything a young family would need.

However, with Minato dead and Kushina lying unconscious in the hospital, the house had locked down completely, allowing no one inside. Because of this, Sarutobi had to instead arrange for Naruto to stay under heavy guard in a small building on the edges of the village, away from anyone who might try to do him harm. Apart from some filthy looks and the occasional pebble tossed at the walls (any perpetrator was swiftly caught and punished by the ANBU standing guard) it was generally avoided by the villagers, and the ANBU guards were beginning to become relaxed.

Careless.

* * *

Uchiha Seigi scowled as he glared up at the house he was meant to be guarding. It was a simple, one-story building, with narrow windows and a roof that had clearly been fixed recently. This area of housing had been abandoned a long time before the attack, and when he was younger, he and his cousins had explored the buildings around it, egging each other on despite their fear of the creaky stairs and shadows.

Now Seigi was older, a proper ninja, and he was still scared - only this time, it wasn't of intangible shadows, but very real monsters, with red fur and blonde hair, with innocent smiles and killing intent that sent grown ninja falling to their knees in terror. The young ANBU had been one of those calling for the demon's death, and that their prayers hadn't been answered annoyed and disgusting him. The body might have been the Yondaime's son, but that didn't excuse the demon that lay within.

Folding his arms, the ANBU leaned against the wall of the building, wrinkling his nose behind his raven mask. The Hokage might have ordered for him to stand guard over the demon, but he never explicitly stated that he had to be in the same room as it - and, to be perfectly honest, if he was in the same room as the creature that had slaughtered so many of his kinsmen, the Uchiha would probably be the one attacking it. No, it was better for all concerned if he just stayed out here.

The fact that this place was situated near a private hot-spring, and thus he got a lovely view of quite a few scantily-clad females looking for a break from all their hot, sweaty labouring was just a bonus, naturally.

However, it was now the dead of night, and few of those who were up would head off to a hot-spring. No, they'd be hanging around the bars, or training, or going out on dates, the things that everyone else was able to do while he was stuck guarding a monster that should have been put to death the instant that Konoha had the chance. And to make things worse, he had been standing guard for hours after an intense bout of training, and he was feeling tired.

Yawning, the ninja settled back against the wall of the building, the cold brick doing little to alleviate his drowsiness. He wouldn't fall asleep on the job, of course he wouldn't, but there was nothing wrong with just getting comfortable or allowing his eyes to drift shut for a few seconds before he forced them open.

He was an Uchiha after all, an elite. Even if he fell asleep, he would awake in an instance if a civilian tried anything funny. Besides, it wasn't as if anyone could tell if he was sleeping when he was wearing his mask. With that in mind, Seigi drifted off happily, unaware of what was happening under his feet.

* * *

If you asked anyone from Konoha about Sentai Jin, most would be able to paint a pleasant, if somewhat plain picture of the man. He was a refugee from Kusa, who had fled to Konoha during the Third Shinobi War along with dozens of other civilians. He was in his late thirties, and worked as a gardener, living in a modest apartment. He was friendly enough if you talked to him, but he mostly kept himself to himself - he was quite a shy man and being rather plain, didn't get many dates. Every year, he took a holiday to Umi no Kuni, his wages as a gardener not allowing anything more exotic. In short, he was just one among many civilians - except for a few small differences.

Namely: he was in fact a chunin from Iwagakure, who had been sent to infiltrate the village, and hadn't been recalled when the war ended; his superiors deeming him far more useful where he was. Every year, he would make a trip to a small, out of the way location in Umi no Kuni where he would give a report about Konoha and what he had managed to discern of its weaknesses.

It wasn't much - he was posing as a civilian, after all, and civilians really only had measures of their village's defence revealed to them when they were being ushered behind protections as their ninja prepared to fight those who would invade them - but every bit of information, no matter how useless it seemed, could end up being useful some time in the future.

However, just because he was posing as a civilian didn't mean that he had allowed his skills to degenerate to their level. In fact, as a chunin of Iwa, Jin had been quite high-ranking. He was quite weak when it came to genjutsu, and his taijutsu was nothing to write home about - but he was one of the best Doton users in his age group, and he also happened to be a chakra sensor. His spying ability had helped him survive in Konoha, but it was the former abilities that would allow him to perform this mission for his village and finally return to Iwa.

He had been watching the ANBU guards all day, trying to find an opening. At first, he'd hoped to act when the guards changed, but they did so rarely, and when it did happen, they were more alert than ever, as they knew that it was then that anyone trying to attack would strike. Jin might be good, but he couldn't tell who was who under their animal masks, and thus he had no idea if he would be able to slip past them or if he'd be caught and dragged off for interrogation. Not willing to risk it, he sat behind the house, watching and waiting.

Finally, an ANBU came whose chakra was weak and drowsy; the man was clearly tired. It was only a matter of time before he fell asleep. Sure enough, after about an hour, the man's chakra started giving off the soft, relaxed pulses that signalled his unconsciousness. Jin smiled grimly.

_'Finally.'_

He could have climbed the walls using chakra, but that wouldn't have really got him anywhere - the windows were too small to fit a child through, never mind a full-grown man. Instead, he made a few hand-seals and sunk into the earth, his body passing through the soil as if it were water.

The Sandaime would have preferred for there to be at least two ANBU guarding Naruto at all times, with one outside the house and one actually in the room with him. However, with so many dead and so much work to be done, the baby was generally watched over in one-man shifts. And so, when Jin swam up under the floorboards of the house, prodding at them until he found a couple loose enough for him to shove them up and drag himself into the room, there was no one in the house to see.

Shaking his head to get rid of the dust, Jin clambered to his feet, looking around. The first floor seemed to be nothing more than a small kitchen, except that the only used thing seemed to be the microwave - clearly, the jinchuuriki was being fed on heated formulae. There was a sterile look to everything, as if no one went in there at all, which said a lot about the ANBU's dedication to guarding the baby. That was good - he would have more of a headstart if they were lax about the jinchuuriki's security.

Jin didn't need to look to see if the child was upstairs; the chakra battering at his senses was proof enough. It was an odd juxtaposition, the gentle warmth of an infant's chakra cushioning that dark, sickly energy that was a shadow of the Kyuubi's wrath, but it was all that he needed to know that he had got the right place.

Creeping noiselessly upstairs, the man was surprised by what he saw. The room was completely dark with not so much as a candle to light it, and it took a while for his eyes to adjust. When they did, he saw that there was a single piece of furniture in the room - a large crib in the corner, the slender bars on the side making it look awfully like a cage.

Jin strolled over to it, looking down curiously. He had never really seen either of the Iwa jinchuuriki, and so he wasn't sure what to expect from this child. But the baby looked oddly normal. A head poked out of the blankets, topped with spiky yellow hair that was frighteningly familiar, while the features all seemed to be typical of a week-old infant. In fact, the only abnormality that Jin could see were the six whisker-like lines that curved over the chubby cheeks, giving the slumbering child a slightly feral look.

The sound of laughter drifted through the window, and Jin glanced to the side, alarmed. Luckily, it seemed that whoever it was had already passed the house, but it reminded the Iwa ninja that he needed to get a move on.

He reached into the pouch that he had hidden under his shirt, and pulled out the string of explosive tags he had brought. Twenty of them, more than enough, and all easily purchased at any of the shinobi stores in Konoha, even for a civilian. Hundreds like it were sold every week, and tracking down who sold these particular ones and to who would take the authorities a while. Even when they did find him, what would they have? A civilian gardener, no doubt bitter about the Kyuubi and determined to take vengeance, who had probably died with the child when he misjudged the tags.

Jin worked quickly, slapping the tags on the floor, on the ceiling, on the walls, around the crib. The tags were set to go off in five minutes after they had been placed, but he could easily work with that. Then he carefully reached into the crib. He had no experience with the whole childcare business, but as a ninja, he had been trained to handle delicate objects quickly but without damaging them, and the child didn't stir as he was slung over Jin's shoulder.

Not missing a beat, he spun around and darted downstairs, heading for the opened floor. As soon as his feet touched the bare dirt, he began sinking into it, both he and the child enveloped within seconds. He was going to be very tired by the time he got to Iwa, but Jin figured that it was better to hurry now and slip out while Konoha was confused rather than conserve energy and get caught - or blown up.

* * *

Behind his mask, Seigi's eyes snapped open. Looking around, the Uchiha was relieved to see that no one had spotted him sleeping on the job. But then...what had woken him?

Frowning, he turned around to look at the house. He couldn't see anything that suggested anything was wrong. There was no fire, no screaming, no sudden wave of toxic chakra. But still, he felt uneasy.

One hand on his kunai, he took a step back, despite how silly he felt. Bah. It was probably nothing. Everyone was on edge, having to host a demon in their village. He glared viciously at the window of the Kyuubi's room. Hell, he wouldn't be surprised if it was the demon's presence that had made him wake up, unwilling to let him sleep when it wanted him to waste his valuable time guarding it-

And then the house exploded.

* * *

In his tower, Sarutobi's head snapped towards the window, a frown on his face. 'What on earth...'

Getting to his feet, the kage strode over to the glass, hands already twisting into the seals necessary to perform one of the many jutsus in his arsenal. His mind was already whirring through the possibilities - another village attacking, an already weakened building collapsing, even - though he shuddered to think of it - the Kyuubi escaping...

Then he saw, in the distance, the wreckage of the building where Naruto had been housed, with no Kyuubi in sight, and suddenly realized that things in the village had reached their boiling point - and he had been unable to prevent Naruto from falling in.

* * *

It took a week for a civilian to travel from Konoha to Iwa, assuming that everything went well along the journey. Ninja, however, could make the journey in half that time, less if they were feeling pressed. And after spending three days with a baby, Jin was certainly feeling pressed.

He hadn't gotten along with the brat at all. It cried loudly, it was always hungry, it forced him to make stops when he could have run all night, it made horrible messes that he had to clean up, and when it wasn't doing all that, it was sleeping, forcing him to hold it awkwardly while he ran. No, Jin was very happy when he saw the tall buildings of his home village, knowing that he could give up the child to his superiors as soon as he made it in.

What happened to the brat beyond that wasn't his problem.

* * *

The Tsuchikage's eyes flickered around the room. He was sitting at a large table, with himself at the head. Sitting with him were six others, all of whom were waiting respectfully for him to begin. Or at least pretending to. He knew full well that more than one of them would like to take his place, or at least see him kicked out of it. But he was an expert at maintaining a balance, and he didn't think that he had a great deal to worry about from them.

For now, anyway.

Settling back, he examined each of them, judging their expressions and wondering how they would react to his news. Of course, there was no question of his decision being overturned - he was the Tsuchikage, and his word was law. Even so, it would be interesting to see what they would have to say about it all.

The man sitting nearest to his right was definitely among his most trusted. At sixty-eight, Nagaimichi Eiya was far past his prime as a shinobi - in fact, the Tsuchikage doubted that he'd be able to stand up to a kitten now. However, his mind was as sharp as ever, and he stayed on as Iwa's main strategist when he could no longer participate in field missions. It was his guidance that had allowed Iwa to survive for as long as they had in their war against Konoha, and the Tsuchikage knew that he could rely on his loyalty if things went badly.

Next to Eiya was someone infinitely less trusted. Sakame Kenji, the twenty-six year old head of the Sakame clan. The Sakame clan were taijutsu masters, no small part of which was their kekkei genkai, the Koton. As their head, Kenji was one of the most powerful wielders of both their kekkei genkai and fighting style. Heralded as a genius from a young age, he had made Jounin at fifteen, and was one of the few who had battled the Yellow Flash and lived (though the Tsuchikage was more inclined to believe that his survival was due to Namikaze being called away to another battlefield rather than Kenji actually beating him as the man had boasted). He also made no secret of the fact that he had his eye on the Tsuchikage's hat, and had hinted more than once that Onoki should think about retiring.

Bah! As if Onoki would do that. The old man was just as rational as he had been in his youth, and his skills were certainly still kage-level. The suggestion that he should step down in favour of a younger, weaker shinobi was both insulting and proof that the arrogant Kenji was not fit to lead Iwa.

Sitting next to Kenji was another headache for the Tsuchikage, but in a different way. Houseki Fusao was head of the small Houseki clan, wielders of the Shoton kekkei genkai. A powerful kekkei genkai to be sure, and one that made Fusao a good ninja...but the man was also a serial womaniser, despite being married. He had had numerous affairs, both outside Iwa and in it, his libido apparently stopping him from seeing the damage the Shoton could do in the hands of someone loyal to Iwa's enemies.

To make matters worse, he had fathered more than a few illegitimate children by village women over the years...all of whom had been quietly aborted. While the mothers (Most of them barely out of their teens) stated that it was their choice to do so, the Houseki clan had a lot of influence, and definitely wasn't above harassing an expectant mother if it kept their kekkei genkai out of an 'outsider's' hands. As long as they didn't cause too much conflict, the Tsuchikage wouldn't interfere...but things could turn nasty quickly if they tried to do that to one of the other clans.

To Fusao's right was the youngest person at the table - Kamizuru Suzembachi. The twelve year old chunin was also the most lowly ranked of them all, and her opinion did not hold a lot of weight. But still, she was a tough child. Orphaned at the age of nine, she had taken over the duties of clan head and mother to her siblings with a surprising fervour, and was also desperately trying to regain the honour the Kamizuru clan had lost when they were defeated so badly by the Aburame clan of Konoha. If she did, then it would be quite an achievement - despite being the descendants of the Shodai Tsuchikage, the Kamizuru clan were seen now as being an embarrassment to Iwa thanks to their resounding defeat.

The only other female at the table was Musei Kasumi, head of the Musei clan. This clan specialized in stealth, and it was to members of that clan that most of the assassination missions went. What was all the more impressive was that they had no kekkei genkai to help them at all, and yet turned out just as many jounin as either of the Houseki and Sakame clans. More importantly, Kasumi was personally loyal to Onoki, as he had been on the same genin team as her grandfather, and had been good friends with him.

The last person at the table was someone no one personally knew but Onoki. Head of Iwa's ANBU forces, he was known only 'Ichi', the number etched into his otherwise plain white mask, which he never took off. Even if someone managed to discover his true identity, it didn't really matter. The man had no family, lived alone, and ate, slept, and breathed ANBU. As far as Onoki knew, no one had called him his real name for over five years. Ichi had buried himself so deeply in this false identity that it had become who he truly was.

Nodding to himself, the Tsuchikage placed his hands on the desk. "As you are all aware, a chunin agent that was stationed in Konoha has now returned to our village. The information he brought was nothing new...however, he has brought us something infinitely more valuable as well."

The rest of the table gazed at him in rapt attention, knowing that he would reveal what this was. The curiosity was evident in their gazes, as was the greed in Kenji's eyes. Doubtlessly he thought that it was some kind of jutsu or other weapon, and was hoping to get his hands on it somehow.

"He has brought us...a jinchuuriki."

Eiya stiffened, his milky eyes wide. "A jinchuuriki from Konoha? But that must mean...he brought the vessel of the Kyuubi?"

Onoki nodded, pleased. "Indeed."

A heavy silence spread around the room as the others absorbed this news. Kasumi raised her head, her hiate-ate glinting against her dark hair. Her voice was raspy, but in the silence, it was as loud as thunder. "But Tsuchikage-sama, rumours from Konoha have stated that Namikaze used his own child as the sacrifice. Was...was that true?"

Knowing that it would be impossible to hide once the child was seen, the Tsuchikage nodded. "Yes."

For a few more seconds, silence reigned. Then...

"WHAT?"

"Tsuchikage-sama...we can't-"

"It must die! Iwa must have its vengeance!"

"ENOUGH!" Onoki bellowed. "We have been given a chance to strengthen Iwa, and by Kami, we will take it!"

Eiya nodded, his face thoughtful. "The Kyuubi held immense power. If the child could utilize it, we'd have an incredible weapon on our hands."

"But it's the spawn of Namikaze!" Kenji hissed, his face taunt with anger. "He slaughtered our brothers and sisters, he made a mockery of us! Now he lies beyond our reach...But his child does not. How can we let it live when their blood still cries for vengeance?"

Suzembachi looked unsure, but straightened up. "But surely he can make up for that? If he can take vengeance for what his father did?"

"Don't be foolish," Fusao shook his head. "He was born in Konoha, he is one of them. He'll turn on us, just watch him!"

Onoki folded his arms. "He may be born in Konoha, but we will make him part of Iwa. Both of our jinchuuriki are strong; with three, we will be unstoppable. As part of our forces, the child will be a great asset." His tone left no room for any more arguing.

"What will his name be then, Tsuchikage-sama?" Kasumi murmured. "We cannot call him Namikaze, the people will know who he is in an instant, and they will be furious."

Onoki pondered this for a moment, thinking back over generations of lost Iwa shinobi, of their names which they no longer had any need for. "Let him be called Kazama Naruto. Uzu no Kuni sent most of their refugees to Konoha; it would make sense if they selected an orphan to seal the beast in. And if they then abandoned the child..." He shrugged, a smirk on his face. "No one could blame our patrols for investigating, could they?"

However, the kage did not note the dark look on Kenji's face as the clan leader left the room. Nor did he realize just how deeply the man's hatred ran, for both him and the Yondaime.

But when the entire village knew by the next day that Iwa had the son of their most hated enemy in their grasp, a helpless baby without means of defence...now that was when Naruto's problems really began.

**This story is based on the 'Stolen Hero' challenge by Hektols, read his profile for more information. Part of the challenge was that everyone knew about Kushina's pregnancy, but I am making this an AU when it comes to the Uzumaki family history, such as Kushina being the second jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi. Creative liberties will be taken quite a lot, due to the lack of information regarding Iwa, but I will try to keep thingd believable. For now, though, please review! **


	2. Chapter 2

**Stolen Hero**

**Don't own Naruto. Never have, and probably never will.**

Uchiha Seigi had spent three weeks in hospital while the medic-nin laboured to heal the burns covering his body. He had been taken completely by surprise when the house exploded; had he not stepped back, he'd have undoubtedly been killed by it. That alone was bad enough - for Uchihas should never be at risk from something so mundane as an explosion; such deaths were for civilians and less ninja - but apparently some people weren't happy about the death of the brat that had died.

One of them being the Hokage. Who happened to have the complete obedience of the interrogation unit of Konoha.

Seigi looked up at the man leaning over him, his sneer slightly ruined by his quivering lips. "When Fugaku-sama hears about this-"

"He will be undoubtedly ashamed of an Uchiha being bested by a civilian explosion," came the dry answer. "After all, according to you, that was the reason why you didn't do your job and save Namikaze Naruto - you allowed a _civilian _to sneak into a house you were supposed to be guarding, and set off an explosion which killed an innocent baby."

Despite himself, Seigi felt a sneer pulled at his burned lips. Innocent? Hardly. The 'baby' had slaughtered hundreds, and it was only due to the Sandaime's foolish leniency that it had lived as long as it had. He would shed no tears for its death.

Sensing this, the interrogator pounced. "Unless, of course, you did notice something?"

Seigi glared at him. He wasn't stupid - he knew that such an admittance would sign his death warrant. Besides, he wasn't hiding anything.

It was a pity for him that the interrogators did not believe that - and nor did the rest of Konoha. It looked highly suspicious after all - that a member of the Uchiha clan (established to be the elite of the village now that the Senju had fallen) would fail to notice a civilian sneaking up on a house they were guarding (and the fact that they had been loudly calling for the death of the inhabitant only days earlier did not help matters at all.) Though Seigi was eventually cleared of the matter due to lack of evidence, as far as the rest of Konoha was concerned, Uzumaki Naruto was dead, and the Uchihas had had a hand in it, if not being the murderers themselves.

The death of the child was certainly a shock to the village. The Kyuubi had been defeated, they were starting to rebuild their village, and all of those who were definitely going to die of their injuries had done so already. This new death was unexpected, and more than that, not only was it a child who had been killed, it was the son of the Yondaime. Within a span of less than two weeks, what had been a brilliant Hokage and his powerful wife with the promise of a line of just as powerful children had gone to a woman lying comatose in the hospital.

The Yondaime's bloodline had been wiped out, a baby had been killed, and the people of Konoha were having to come to terms with the fact that it was because they had refused to believe that the child was not the Kyuubi (and if it was, then how could it have been killed in such a way?) They had spat on the Yondaime's wishes for his legacy...and now it was all gone. It was only now that they were beginning to realize the full scope of what they had lost - for not only was the Yondaime's bloodline, but also all of his scrolls (which he had sealed to only be opened by those of his blood) and the rest of his assets, which were now Kushina's (who probably would not want to stay in Konoha after all that had happened.)

Those who still could not let go of their hatred argued that, regardless of what the child was, the threat of the Kyuubi had at last been vanquished. However, shinobi who had fought jinchuuriki in the wars, not to mention the more fuinjutsu-savvy of them, pointed out that there was no guarantee that the Kyuubi was dead at all. The seal was barely a week old, and there had been reported cases of bijuu being released when their hosts died at such young ages. Not only that, but as no one knew how the Yondaime's seal worked, it was quite possible that the Kyuubi had merely vanished, as it had been wont to do from time to time before it attacked the village...and in that case, it could be back for revenge the moment it returned.

It was quite difficult to see the silver lining in a what was essentially harmless baby being killed after that.

Beyond all that, the Uchiha continued exactly as they had done. They saw no reason not to - the demon was dead, and the clan had been cleared of involvement in its death. Really, there was no need to worry. After all, had not many in the village spoken of their want for him, if not to die, then at least go away? Even if there was those who were angry about it, their mutterings would quickly dissipate. The man who had done the dead was dead after all, there was no target for them to focus on.

No target - except the Uchiha themselves.

* * *

The medic knelt before the desk of the Tsuchikage, head lowered respectfully. Despite that, it was clear from his shaking body that he was very excited about something, and as soon as the old man gave permission for him to rise, he immediately started talking.

"It's amazing, Tsuchikage-sama! His body...it heals any cuts and bruises within minutes, if not seconds, and in the three years since he's arrived, there's been no sign of any sickness, even in the winter - not so much as a sniffle. As he hasn't had any major wounds, there's no data regarding his ability to recover from something more serious, but as it stands, he's got an amazing healing factor. It's assumed that it's from the Kyuu-"

"No."

The medic looked at the Tsuchikage, confused, but didn't dare to contradict him. Only his advisors and strategists could (politely) tell the man that he was wrong and hope to leave the room with all limbs intact - if alive.

Onoki nodded to himself. "Never have either Han or Roshi displayed any healing ability, and yet, their bijuu are terrified of dying with them. If they had the ability to heal either of them then I think that they would have seized it, especially given Gobi's reaction to...that incident. And what's more, a bijuu's chakra is highly toxic. I doubt that it could be used to heal - it would damage the jinchuuriki's body as it was sent through it."

"B-but Tsuchikage-sama...what could it be, then?"

Onoki tapped his fingers against his desk. He had long since suspected something like this, from the day he had met Naruto while the child was awake, in fact. The boy had been one at the time, and just learning to walk, his wobbly steps often ending in tumbles to the floor, because there was no one who cared enough to catch him.

Onoki had sat in the corner of the room, watching the child, and feeling grudgingly impressed in spite of himself. No matter how hard he hit the ground, the kid would always clamber to his feet, clinging to the furniture for support, and try again - with not a single bruise to show for it. When he finally managed to make it to the other side of the room without crashing down once, the kage had given him the slightest nod of approval - and received a beaming, if tentative smile in return.

That had been the beginning of a somewhat odd friendship. Onoki certainly didn't coddle the boy - he was meant to be a ninja, not a sheltered weakling who needed approval for every action he took - but he did at least acknowledge that the boy was there outside shouting angrily at him for causing trouble (which he did, frequently - apparently, Naruto operated on the understanding that angry attention was better than none at all, and was already gaining a reputation as a bit of a prankster) and was as kind to him as a grumpy kage with many other duties could be.

In turn, Naruto seemed quite affectionate towards him, and had proudly stated that he wanted to be a ninja, "Just like you, old man!" After a round of gentle (for the Tsuchikage, anyway) raps on the child's rather thick skull, Naruto had managed a respectful 'Tsuchikage-sama," though Onoki could practically see him mouthing _old man _whenever the elderly kage's back was turned.

And yet, despite all that, Naruto had not a single cut or bruise to show for a childhood of rough play. It wasn't as if he had never injured himself - on the contrary, Onoki had witnessed him taking more knocks than he cared to remember - and yet, he was still unmarked. That smacked of something being wrong - or right, in this case - and so he had summoned in the medics, who of course wanted to take the easy option of pointing at the Kyuubi.

But the Tsuchikage had remembered something from the early stages of the third war. It was said that Namikaze had been attacked by a group of Suna-nins, desperate to find their missing Kazekage. Though the man had defeated them all, he had been cut with a sword coated in poison. While it was possible to survive poison, even one of Suna's deadly concoctions, Namikaze should have been bedridden for at least a week.

He had been up and fighting the next day, though people commented that it wasn't at his best.

Normally, Onoki would have dismissed it as yet another fanciful tale about the man to embellish his legend - but now, with the news about his son, he couldn't help but wonder if it was in fact some sort of minor kekkei genkai. It would make sense to not advertise it - while most villages welcomed kekkei genkai as another source for power, there were those who thought of them as abominations (Kiri, for instance) and even before the third war, people with kekkei genkai had been going missing (the work, it was later found out, of none other than Orochimaru).

But if Naruto did have a kekkei genkai...that was great news for Iwa. There were a grand total of three kekkei genkais in Iwagakure, and Onoki was the last holder of the Jinton. A new bloodline would be welcomed...but at the same time, it could very well lead to trouble. After all, the Sakame and the Houseki's main strengths came from the kekkei genkai they wielded, and if they felt that another clan could spring up and threaten their status...

Onoki scowled. Blast it. He had to think of Iwa before any ninja, and the two clans were more valuable to it than a single jinchuuriki. There was nothing for it but to bury this secret, just as he had Naruto's parentage and status as jinchuuriki...not that the last two had been particularly successful. Luckily, a few public executions and choice threats had the ninja keeping their mouths shut. The civilians wouldn't dare to talk either. Unlike Konoha, they were not allowed to just walk around with village secrets; the slightest mention of 'Namikaze' in conjunction with 'Naruto' would have heads rolling and they knew it.

"This is an S-rank secret; you may not speak of it to anyone. Am I clear?"

The medic-nin paled, bowing rapidly. "O-of course, Tsuchikage-sama."

Nodding in satisfaction, Onoki leaned back in his chair. "And what of the Kyuubi?"

The medic-nin fidgeted nervously. "I'm...afraid that the...training...will have to be post-poned."

Onoki raised an eyebrow, and the temperature in the room seemed to plummet to Yukigakure-levels. "Oh? And why would that be?"

Briefly, the medic-nin contemplated pretending that there was nothing wrong and letting the Tsuchikage just go ahead with what he wanted. But if the man found out, he'd be dead anyway - and besides, the plan was too dangerous for them to try out yet.

"To put it simply, the Kyuubi's chakra is just too strong. Right now, the child's coils are still malleable, and from what we can tell of the seal, it will be a few years before it is stable enough to be relied on. If the child is pushed into training to harness the chakra too soon, the seal could fail, and the Kyuubi be released."

Onoki leaned forward, his eyes fixed on the medic-nin, who tried to look as though he wasn't terrified for his life (and failed miserably). "Well then. How soon _would _you say Naruto can begin training without the danger of the Kyuubi being released?"

The medic-nin ran his mind back over his observations. "I believe that the earliest he should begin is around seven or eight. Possibly earlier if he begins shinobi training and has at least a basic grasp of how to handle his own chakra first."

"He's three years old now." The Tsuchikage's tone was flat, and it was difficult to say whether he was in agreement, or merely preparing to blast the medic-nin's head off.

"Y-yes, Tsuchikage-sama...but if he begins training immediately at, say, four or five, there's a high possibility that we'd only have the usefulness of the Kyuubi's chakra for a year at most before it overwhelmed him. However, if we wait a few more years and give him at least basic shinobi training, the seal will remain stable, and he would be able to utilize it a great deal more efficiently than the span he would have between the ages of four and five."

For a minute, the Tsuchikage silently contemplated this, while the medic-nin sweated nervously. Why oh why had he turned down that mission to Kusagakure that would have kept him away from Iwa and its powerful, casually-killing Kage for six months?

"...Very well. But understand that his development is now on your head. If things go wrong when we do start him on his training, then it'll be you held responsible. Do you understand?"

The medic-nin wanted to argue that it wasn't fair, that he had never dealt with the Kyuubi before and so could not know the full effects no matter what, that the handlers of the jinchuuriki should be responsible for any accidents, not him, and that by nature, things went wrong whenever a jinchuuriki was involved because they just weren't natural - but he liked his head where it was, and so he only bowed it in submission.

"I understand, Tsuchikage-sama."

* * *

Akatsuchi ran a hand through his hair, the sound of his breath hissing against the porcelain of his mask the only noise he heard as he stood outside the building the Tsuchikage had sent him to. An ugly block of dull grey bricks with scarcely any windows, it looked rather like a prison, or some kind of ANBU building, designed to intimidate any who would cross their kage.

But it wasn't. In fact, this building was the only orphanage in Iwa, a place dedicated to raising those who had lost their parents and giving them shelter, food, and education; all the things that they would need to grow up to be healthy, loyal citizens of Iwa.

At least, that was what was said on the official records. Having grown up in this place himself, Akatsuchi knew that the reality was very different.

Every village had civilians. They were needed just as badly as ninjas were to protect it, because even with time between missions, no ninja could ever fully devote themselves to civilian jobs. Things that ranged from doctors with no chakra to aid them but plenty of knowledge (because medic-nins were rare in Iwa, and care without chakra to back it up was better than no care at all) to managing the banks, from restaurants to technicians, from secretaries to traders - all those jobs and more had to be done to help Iwa function, and for that, they needed civilians.

However, the problem with civilians was that, compared to ninja, they were, well..._weak, _for the lack of a better word (and most Iwa ninjas never bothered to look for one in the first place). An average academy student could take down a full-grown civilian in less than two minutes without sustaining much damage to themselves, let alone a fully-qualified ninja. And thus, there was no way in hell that a civilian could have much power over the lives of the ninja that risked death constantly while the civilians stayed safe in Iwa.

For that reason, there were limitations on the lives of the civilians in Iwa. For starters, they were kept separate from the ninja population by use of housing districts, with civilians forbidden to live in certain areas or even enter them without a special pass. If a ninja wanted to marry a civilian, they had to file weeks worth of paperwork to just get permission for their spouse to live in the same house as them. They could not sit on the council. They could not perform even the most menial of jobs, like sorting paperwork or cleaning, for the ANBU divisions or for the kage's office. They signed away all rights to their children once they became genin. They were denied access to treatment by medical shinobi unless there were no shinobi who needed them for even the most minor of afflictions. They were, essentially, Iwa's second class.

Naturally, the occupation of civilian wasn't very popular in Iwa, and thus most people were desperate to be ninja, even with all the dangers the job brought with it. However, though the academy was always full to bursting and they never had a shortage of people to recruit from during wartime, civilians were still needed in Iwa. Thus, the standard for the academy was high, while it was incredibly difficult, bordering on levels of impossible to get children from civilian-only families into it outside special circumstances like war. Most didn't bother trying, just entering them into the civilian schools, and the orphanage was no exception.

However, Akatsuchi had managed to become a ninja by virtue of his parents who had begun training him just before their deaths, when he was seven years old. One of their friends (a shinobi, naturally) had recommended that he at least try out for the academy, and they had grudgingly let him in. What had followed was five years of non-stop studying and training, without any support from either the orphanage or from that friend, who saw his duty as being finished and never tried to contact him again. Knowing that he could be dropped from the academy at any time, he had worked relentlessly, and had left the orphanage on the same day he became a genin.

Now, ten years later, he stood in front of it again, uncomfortably aware of the heavy mask covering his face. It wasn't as if he wanted his face to be seen after all - ANBU were supposed to be the hidden elite of the village after all, and there wasn't anyone in the orphanage he was particularly interested in having a conversation with outside the job - but it was still a bother, with how hot it made his face feel. Why couldn't he just disguise himself with a genjutsu?

Akatsuchi shook himself. He was just trying to avoid going in, and he knew it. But the Tsuchikage had given him a job and, however distasteful he might find it, he would not fail. And so, steeling himself, he rapped sharply on the door.

It was opened almost immediately - presumably, the owners had been waiting impatiently for his visit all morning, counting down the seconds until he would come and take their problem right off their hands once and for all.

An old woman stood behind the doorway, framed by the faded wood. She was small, her head barely level with Akatsuchi's chest, and utterly ancient, her practically translucent skin hanging off her small frame in wrinkled folds, her white hair pulled back in an uninspiring bun, her claw-like hands grasping a knobbly cane. Despite that, Akatsuchi couldn't help but feel _slightly _intimidated by her - after all, he could still remember the time this woman had towered above him and seemed like the most frightening thing in the world.

"Chuuari-san. I'm here for the child."

Her beetle-black eyes glittered with recognition, and she bowed her head respectfully, even as her prune-like mouth split into a sneering grin. "Of course, ANBU-san. Right this way."

She gestured for him to come in, and Akatsuchi stepped forward, ducking his head under the low doorway as he went. The foyer he now stood in was long and dark, with only a few grimy lamps screwed to the walls to light the gloom. The floor was scuffed from hundreds of tiny shoes over the years, and the patterned wallpaper was faded to the point that only vague lines could be made out on its surface, just as he remembered it. Despite the orphanage doing the best they could with their funding, and the level of care being decent at least, it wasn't a cheerful place to grow up in.

The old woman had already moved off into the darkness, heedless if he was following her. Stifling his annoyance, Akatsuchi quickly caught up, his large strides giving him an advantage over her small, hurried steps.

Rounding a corner, Akatsuchi saw a long hallway, with each wall having a row of doors set in it. Some of them were open, and he could see children beyond them, looking clean and well-cared for, but undeniably nervous of the ninja walking among them. He turned his head away from them, but could still feel their shiny eyes fixed on his back, curiosity of the stranger warring with their knowledge that ninjas were dangerous and could kill them _just like that _if you looked at them wrong.

Which he couldn't really, even if he wanted to - civilians weren't so badly trodden down that a straight-out murder wasn't treated as a crime - but he supposed that it would do them good to learn to avoid ninja at a young age - after all, not everyone in Iwa felt the same as he did.

Apparently either not noticing or caring about the children watching them, Chuuari began rattling off a list of facts about the child, as if he was nothing more than some property she was keen to pass on to someone else.

"He's six years old, birthday on October 10th." That piece of information was followed by a roll of her eyes, as if she couldn't see why anyone would want to know it. "He can read and write at an average level for his age, but he can't cook, so someone will have to provide food for him. He's a troublemaker, naturally - spoiled the staff dinner meeting the other day by putting some spiders in the salad, and he even threw some dye in Aiko-san's shampoo. We'd put him into confinement, but seeing as he's mostly kept separate anyway, that doesn't-"

Akatsuchi halted, staring at her incredulously, though she couldn't see his expression. "Kept separate? Why?"

Chuuari sniffed, folding her spindly arms across her chest. "For safety, naturally. If the seal ever breaks, we can't have him going after the other children. Besides, it's not as if he's the type we'd want the children to play with."

Something cold and heavy unfurled itself in Akatsuchi's stomach. As scary as Chuuari had seemed when he was a child, she had been grumpy and overworked, not deliberately malicious - but he knew fully well that this isolation had little do with the safety of the other children, and far more to do with a punishment for the son of the Yondaime daring to be breathing in Iwa, to live in the place that his father had stolen so much from.

Akatsuchi had disliked the Yondaime as much as the next Iwa citizen, and he had known that the child, someone he had never particularly troubled himself over, would hardly be pampered in a place like this...but knowing about the hate and actually seeing it up close were two different situations. It wasn't as if he was feeling sorry for the kid...but still...

Apparently seeing the matter as over and done with, Chuuari nodded at the furthest door to the right. "He's in there. You'll have to keep an eye on him...nasty little..."

Whatever she wanted to say trailed off into inaudible grumbling as she fitted a key into the lock of the door, blowing a strand of white hair out of her eyes as she did so. Finally, it creaked open, and Akatsuchi peered into the room beyond.

It was quite small, not much bigger than the closet Akatsuchi kept his spare uniform in, and very stuffy, air-conditioning apparently not a priority for the orphanage. Lit by a single light-bulb dangling precariously from the ceiling, the walls were crayoned in spirals of varying colours, but whether they were deliberate or just random doodles, the ANBU didn't know. There was no furniture in the room apart from a small futon, upon which sat what was quite possibly the most disliked, if not outright hated child in the whole of Tsuchi no Kuni.

Kazama Naruto was a short child. That was Akatsuchi's first impression of him - not the spiky blonde hair, which was beginning to droop in the heat, not the wide blue eyes that were a mirror image of the pair that stared out of the academy textbooks (frequently scribbled over in red ink) or even the six whisker marks that marred his cheeks. He was _small_, the futon he was sitting on nearly swallowing him up, and that made him look oddly vulnerable as he sat with his head bowed, fingers tracing out a pattern on the sheets.

He didn't look like a ninja at all, much less a bijuu, and it was odd to think that this was the child of the man who had slaughtered hundreds. If he didn't know about the story, he wouldn't have guessed the kid to be Namikaze's child at all (well, until he looked up, letting the light shine on his spiky blonde hair).

Chuuari rapped her cane against the floor, and Naruto looked up, his face turning wary when he saw the masked figure standing behind the old woman. "What's going on?"

Chuuari smiled coldly. "You're being moved, Naruto. Tsuchikage-sama has ordered that you have an apartment of your own, now that you're entering the academy."

The kid nimbly hopped off the bed, his blue eyes narrowed. "Where am I going? And who are they?"

Ignoring the last question, Chuuari shrugged, her expression making it clear that she didn't care. "I don't know. I will give you a few minutes to collect your things, and then you will leave with ANBU-san." With that, she spun around, and disappeared through the door.

Akatsuchi swallowed as he looked at Naruto, who stared back at him suspiciously, hands planted on his hips. "I'm not going with you until you tell me who you are!"

Not wanting an argument this early into the mission, Akatsuchi gestured at the number engraved in his mask. "617."

"Huh?"

"That is what you may call me. 617."

Naruto stared at him, his suspicious expression giving way to bewilderment. "You're a _number?"_

Biting back his irritation, Akatsuchi shook his head. "No, that is my code-number, which you may refer to me while I am assigned to you. My orders are to escort you to your new home, and then take you to your first day at the academy tomorrow. After that, you will be expected to make your way on your own."

Yes. That was his mission. Simple, easy to carry out. He'd be back home in less than an hour-

"What's the academy?"

...Or not.

* * *

Naruto looked up at the building in front of him, resisting the urge to gulp. It wasn't as if he was _scared _- because he was going to be a ninja now, and the old man had said that ninjas were never scared - but in the orphanage, even if they'd made him stay in his room for a lot of the time and the meals weren't very tasty, at least they'd looked after him, though he knew that they didn't want to. But now, he was on his own for the first time in his life...and it was _kinda _scary.

Well, he wasn't completely on his own. The weird number guy was standing next to him, looking up at the beehive-like building that was apparently Naruto's new home. Naruto was carrying his own luggage - which didn't consist of much - but he wasn't feeling tired at all, because the number guy had grabbed his arm and, suddenly, they were in front of the building.

The number guy had said that it was called 'shunshin', and that he'd learn it if he passed through the academy, which was some kind of ninja school. Naruto was very excited about the idea of going - he'd been wanting to be a ninja for ages, just like the old man - but even so, he couldn't help but feel a bit scared of that as well - because he knew that, for some reason that he could never find out, people didn't like him.

At the orphanage, no one looked at him unless they had to. Even the other children were kept mostly away from him, and even when they weren't, they wouldn't play with him because the old lady had said that he was a bad person. Even when he tried to be good, she just ignored him, occasionally giving him nasty glares. But those nasty glares were better than nothing, because then at least someone was paying attention to him, so he'd started pranking so that he'd keep that attention.

But not any more. The old man had spoken to him, had said that now that he was going to start training as a ninja (though he'd never explained how, and Naruto was disappointed that he was going to have to spend _years _working at it, even though he knew that he was going to have to work hard to be a ninja in the first place) he couldn't mess around and play pranks any more. He'd also mentioned something about the strength of Iwa, and how Naruto would have to learn to help take the burden of that strength by any means necessary, but Naruto hadn't been able to keep on listening - the old man was great, and probably the closest thing he had to a friend...but he could talk an _awful_ lot.

The number guy coughed, nodding at the door of the building. "We should go in. Your apartment is on the top floor."

Naruto craned his head, staring up at the top of the building in awe. "Really? The one with the balcony?"

The guy nodded, heading to the door. "Yes. Now, come on."

Naruto might not have any money of his own, but the Tsuchikage had set up a small fund for him, enough to pay the rent and buy enough food to stop him from going hungry. And while it was far from a fortune, it was enough to get him a decent apartment, one with a proper kitchen (the stove looked like it had been fiddled with, but then hastily put back together, as if the vandal had thought better of it), a central heating that didn't break down all the time and, best of all, a great view that let him see a good portion of Iwa, including the Tsuchikage's tower.

He was on the balcony now, gripping the iron railing tightly as he stared through them with wide eyes. Apart from a few trips outside the orphanage, he had never really seen the village that he lived in before...and it took his breath away.

Surrounded by rocky mountains that made up an effective natural defence, Iwa sat on dozens of small cliffs, the cone-like buildings seeming to have grown straight out of the stone that made their bases. The drop between each cliff was steep, but a large network of bridges connected each and every building to each other, including Naruto's apartment. With his eyes, he followed the bridges, noting how they changed in width and length as they went from building to building, until at last, they connected at the Tsuchikage's tower.

A tiny smile on his face, Naruto glanced up at the setting sun, which was casting a warm red glow over the buildings as it slowly drifted out of sight. The village looked strangely beautiful at this time...and it was his village. He was a part of it, the old man had said so - and he was going to prove himself. He would _make _people see him, if not with pranks, then as a great ninja, just like the old man (Naruto had never actually seen him fight, but he was Tsuchikage, and everyone knew that only the strong could be Tsuchikage).

He was suddenly aware of someone standing behind him, and turned around to see the ANBU guy, the number on his mask hidden by his hood. "Did you have dinner?"

Naruto shook his head, feeling sheepish. "I...don't know how to make it."

The guy sighed, which sounded odd, what with him wearing a mask. "I see. Well, you'll be provided with prepared meals until you can learn to cook on your own. I suppose we'll have to arrange for someone to teach you-"

"Can _you _cook?" Naruto asked curiously.

The guy stiffened. "What?"

Naruto nodded at the kitchen. "Well, you're a grown-up, right? So, shouldn't ya know how to cook?"

"Um..." The guy shuffled his feet guiltily. "That doesn't matter. I'm not a good teacher anyway...And besides, there's a ramen shop near here. I can fetch some for you, but you'll be on proper meals tomorrow."

Inwardly, Akatsuchi winced. His job had been to fetch the kid, leave him in the apartment, and show him to the academy the next day. That was it, job done. But he couldn't help feeling oddly guilty as he prepared to leave, seeing the empty cupboards and obvious lack of any care that the kid was just that - a kid. Akatsuchi knew full well that Naruto was the son of the Yondaime, that he was the jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi, that he'd be a weapon for Iwa...but for Kami-sama's sake, he didn't even know either of those particular facts, and he wasn't just going to transform into an efficient, emotionless machine overnight.

Before his ninja training could strangle that brief flash of conscience for the Yellow Flash's son, he shushined away, leaving Naruto to stare in confusion at the spot that he'd just vanished from. _'What's 'ramen', anyway?'_

The blonde flopped down onto the carpet, his arms folded. Now that the guy was gone, he felt oddly...lonely. It wasn't as if he wasn't used to being on his own...but that didn't mean that he actually liked it. That was why he had tried so hard to get attention in the first place, wasn't it?

_But I can't be like that now. The old man said that ninjas have to be strong. That we have to give up everything for Iwa...whatever that means. But...'_

Before Naruto could think on it any further, the number guy appeared again in a swirl of dust. In his hands, he was carrying a large cartoon, from which a heavenly smell was drifting. The ANBU set it down on the table, dropping down a pair of chopsticks as well.

His attention diverted, Naruto bounced over to the table, staring at it with wide eyes. "That's all for me?"

Akatsuchi nodded uncomfortably. "It's only ramen, but it'll" - he paused, staring at the blonde in amazement, who was already halfway through the cartoon, a noodle hanging out of his mouth as he looked up inquisitively at the ANBU. "What?"

"Nothing..." Akatsuchi muttered, shaking his head.

_'Such speed and a love for ramen...I guess he is **his **son after all.'_

_

* * *

_

The next day dawned bright and sunny...and Naruto woke up in a terrible panic, when, for the briefest of moments, he didn't recognize his surroundings. He thrashed around wildly in the first proper bed he'd ever slept in, before the sunlight streaming in through his window and the absence of the claustrophobia-inducing walls of his old room caught up with the events of the day before.

Having finally calmed down, Naruto quickly scrambled out of bed, excitement, for now, overcoming his trepidation. Today was the day he was finally going to the ninja academy, and begin his journey to become a shinobi - and not just any shinobi, but one just as good, if not better, than the old man!

After quickly dressing himself in his normal clothes, which consisted of a black pair of shorts and a white t-shirt with the , he made his way into the kitchen, where to his surprise, the ANBU guy was already waiting.

"Are you ready to go?"

Naruto nodded eagerly, not noticing the strange hesitance in the ANBU'S voice. Of course he was!

* * *

The academy was situated near the Tsuchikage's tower, though it was less than half of the latter's size. A large pair of double doors were set in the walls directly under the carved symbol of Iwa, which cast a heavy shadow under the glare of the morning sun. It would have looked quite majestic and imposing, were it not for the large crowd of small children being shepherded in by annoyed and, in some cases, tearful parents.

"-come _on, _Rei-"

"I'll be waiting for you at three-"

"Leave your sister alone, Takashi-"

"Setsuna, if you don't-"

The noise and the crowd was somewhat overwhelming, and Naruto stared around in bewilderment. Akatsuchi, meanwhile, was on red-alert. Already, people were noticing Naruto, and even now he could see the sneers settling on their lips, the glares, the children being tugged away. The sooner Naruto was safely in the school, the better.

The ANBU's thoughts were interrupted as someone suddenly crashed into Naruto, who gave a yelp as he was knocked over. Akatsuchi's hand immediately darted towards his tanto, ready to attack if necessary...until he caught a good glimpse of the 'attacker.'

A small girl with wispy brown hair and large grey eyes was scrambling back onto her feet, apologizing profusely at Naruto. "I'm really sorry! I didn't see you, and I was trying to find Kaa-san, but I couldn't see her, and-"

"YUI!"

The girl jumped nearly a foot in the air as a young woman came skidding up behind their group. She was clearly the mother or older sister of the girl, and from the hiate-ate glinting around her neck, a shinobi as well - and yet, for some odd reason, she looked quite nervous as she came near them. Akatsuchi stifled a sigh. Son of the Yondaime or not, Naruto was a _six year old _child. And a kunoichi, young or not, was afraid of him?

The kunoichi in question looked down, her eyes meeting Naruto. Though they widened slightly, to Akatsuchi's bewilderment, she only shook her head. "Yui-chan, did you knock this boy over?"

"I'm sorry, Kaa-san," Yui piped out, still glancing nervously at Naruto. "I really didn't mean to-"

Naruto, already back on his feet, rubbed his head. "S'okay..."

Akatsuchi was now quite confused. So the woman wasn't afraid of Naruto...he followed her gaze, and realized with a start that it was _him _she was looking at nervously. But why...

Suddenly, another face flashed into his mind, one with grey eyes and a superior look on their face that didn't match up with the small girl who even now was shuffling her feet guiltily as Naruto assured her that he was fine (and probably enjoying the first time that anyone his age had even spoke to him outside of insults, never mind apologizing). Something else floated to the surface of his mind as well - a mission, about five and a half years ago to Suna that lasted eight months and had only two people - a genin and her female sensei - on it.

Ah. That explained it.

Poor kid.

He nodded at Naruto. "You should be going in now. They'll be registering you soon."

The kunoichi nodded, gently nudging her daughter. "The two of you should hurry up, you don't want to be late-"

She broke off, staring distractedly at the entrance, where the parents, now free of their offspring, were heading away from and towards them. And at the front of the pack was none other than Houseki Fusao, no doubt back from showing off his clan heir. The man's eyes fell upon the group before any of them could move away. His gaze slid from Akatsuchi and the kunoichi with no visible change in expression, but a vicious glare twisted his face when he saw the children. Even from the distance he was away from them, all four of them could hear what he spoke.

_"Filth."_

And thus began Kazama Naruto's first day at the academy.

**Next chapter will include a few time-skips, and we should hopefully begin to get him out of the academy soon - as well as introducing a few more characters, especially from canon. Be warned, however - in this story, no one has plot-armour, whether canon or OC. And now, please review! **


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